


The Screaming Adventures of Crop Top and Death Drop

by Kybee1497



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Alex Mercer’s ongoing love affair with cotton candy, Crack, Fluff and Crack, Gay Disaster Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms), It’s just crack baby, M/M, alex just really doesn’t like roller coasters, bobby is a smug asshole but we love him, boggie rights, its projecting my fear of roller coasters onto Alex hours, luke just likes to start shit, reggie is an angel, semi competent disaster gay Willie, well kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:14:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29645622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kybee1497/pseuds/Kybee1497
Summary: All he had been expecting was a casual day at the amusement park with his bros, eating cotton candy, talking Reggie out of a third hot dog, talking Luke and Bobby out of the death machine they liked to call The Jolt, and trying not to think about how many people were killed every year by rogue roller coasters. But here he was, standing in the parking lot with no bros, no cotton candy, and the prettiest guy Alex had ever seen, who was smiling at him like Alex was the best thing he’d ever seen.ORThe “‘we’re about to go on the amusement park ride that’s rumored to have killed a guy and I’m internally freaking out but you’re hot so I volunteered to go with my friend thanks a lot’ au“ as found on Pinterest.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby | Trevor Wilson/Reggie Peters
Comments: 32
Kudos: 146





	The Screaming Adventures of Crop Top and Death Drop

**Author's Note:**

> Nothing but cracky fluff and fun babes. The rating is only for language. The spiciest thing that happens here is hand holding and one (1) cheek kiss. 
> 
> Alex is a disaster gay and I stand by that. 
> 
> I wanted fluff so I stalked Pinterest for prompts and this one jumped out at me. Please not this ride has not actually killed anyone, Alex is just an anxious bean with a healthy dose of fear of roller coasters, as he should. 
> 
> Anyways, here ya go. Look at me not posting in the wee morning hours. Progress baby (we’re ignoring that I did not focus in class today, it is progress regarding my sleep schedule only.)

“We’re going to die.”

“We’re not going to die.” Luke was distracted, watching the line in front of them move up as he bounced on the balls of his feet. He was practically vibrating with excitement, turning to Alex with a grin. “Come on Alex, it’ll be fun! We’ve been wanting to go on this one _all_ day and you wouldn’t let us.” 

“Yeah, Alex. You’ve been very anti-roller coaster today but surprisingly chiller about it than usual.” Bobby cut himself off, eyes narrowing in suspicion as he scanned Alex’s face. “Which, now that I’m thinking about it, is weird. You haven’t had nearly enough cotton candy to be this calm. You’ve said no less than fourteen times today that The Jolt is a lawsuit waiting to happen and none of us were pointing even a single toe in its general direction. Now you’re the one suggesting we go? You never change your mind so quickly. You need at least two to three business days _and_ a full nine hours of sleep and then you will _consider_ it. What gives?”

Fuck, he knew the shininess of the new roller coaster wouldn’t keep them distracted for long. He just wasn’t expecting them to figure it out so fast. But Alex wasn’t about to tell him the real reason, either. They would never let him live it down and it was all because of the prettiest person Alex had ever seen.

~~~~

They’d been halfway to the front gates that morning when Alex realized he’d forgotten his fanny pack in the car. He didn’t usually take it off, but it was a tight fit with him, Reggie _and_ Bobby in the back seat of Luke’s old car, and he needed to squeeze himself as small as possible. 

He’d groaned and grabbed the keys from Luke’s pocket, sending the boys ahead to get in line for tickets. They were planning to get there right at open, but _someone_ (Reggie) had taken over an hour in the shower. So they were getting there nearly 45 minutes after they opened, instead of slightly ahead of it like they’d planned. He didn’t want to make them wait the extra five minutes to run back to the car, so he’d sent them on ahead and turned back.

He’d been rushing, not wanting to take too long when he’d smacked right into a warm body that just appeared from between a row of cars. 

“Fuck! I’m so sorry. Are you okay? I was in a hurry and I didn’t even see you.” Alex rushed it out all in one breath, shaking hair out of his eyes.

“Wow, I don’t know if I should be offended or not.” The teasing voice had not been what Alex was expecting in response to being practically assaulted in the parking lot of an amusement park and he looked up in surprise. Finally taking in the person standing in front of him. 

_Oh wow._

He was beautiful. Brown hair fell in waves around his shoulders in a casual disarray. He was a bit shorter than Alex, lean but strong. The crop top and cut offs distracted Alex for a moment before he focused on the guy’s face. Brown eyes sparkled up at Alex and he felt his brain blue screen. 

His first three thoughts were _pretty, cheekbones,_ and _wow, I’m gay_. All in that order. His fourth and fifth thoughts were devoted to getting his brain back online and making his mouth work again. 

“Um, hi.” That was words, technically. He was nailing it. Well, not really, but he was still trying to make his brain work so it counted. 

“Hi.” Crop Top repeated back to him, tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear. “You’re leaving already? They just opened.”

“Oh no, we just got here. I forgot something in the car so I sent my friends ahead so I could run back and grab it. We were planning to get here early but my friend woke up late and then took a super long shower which doesn’t even make sense because it’s going to be a hundred degrees today. He’s just going to need another shower when he gets home, but he wouldn’t listen to me and so we’re late. Then his car wouldn’t start, so we had to take my other friend's tiny ass car and I ended up in the middle seat squished between two of my friends who kept leaning around me to flirt with each other. I am the tallest person out of all of them, how does it make sense to stick me in the middle? I had my knees to my chest the whole way here and I took off my bag to save on room and ended up forgetting it. So now here we are.” He really needed to learn how to breathe when he talked or he was going to pass out and no one would be riding anything but the ambulance to the hospital, today. Why did he talk so much? It was a simple question. Crop Top did not need his entire life history, but he didn’t seem to mind. 

“They really just leaned around you to flirt? Why didn’t they just sit next to each other?” Out of all the things Alex had said, he wasn’t expecting that to be Crop Top’s question. 

“That’s what I said! But no, they both wanted window seats. Bobby gets car sick in the middle and Reggie wanted to look at the horses we drove past on the way here. Bobby might have personally murdered me if I stood between Reggie and his horses. I couldn’t even sit in the front seat because the passenger seat is for Luke’s one true love, and his one true love only, his guitar.”

Crop Top laughed and Alex’s brain just switched off again, going blank for a few seconds before he blinked and came back online. 

“Your friends have weird priorities but if it makes them happy, all the more power to them, I guess. What rides are you starting with?”

“Probably the carousel because horses, and Reggie is an angel, so we let him pick first. Then Bobby will want to go on The Spider and Luke will go for the Rock N’ Roller Coaster. They’ll rock, paper, scissors for it, and Bobby will win because Luke doesn’t know he has a tell. Luke will pout about losing because he’s competitive but he also likes The Spider, so he won’t really care. Bobby will pretend to gloat about it because he’s an asshole, but he also loves the Rock N’ Roller Coaster, so we’ll go on each one at least twice.” Alex went through the list, counting off on his fingers as he went. 

“Wow, you’ve got it down to a science. How often do you guys do this?” 

Alex laughed, tossing his hair out of his eyes again. “Way too often, also they’re very predictable. They just don’t think they are.”

“What about you, what are you looking forward to.” Crop Top had drifted closer at some point, and was standing almost directly in front of Alex, head tilted back slightly to meet his eyes. 

“Cotton candy, and bumper cars.”

Crop Top laughed again, surprised. “Really? Not The Jolt? Most people come just for that coaster with the rest of the park as an added bonus.”

Alex shook his head vehemently, “Oh no, I don’t wish for death today. Humans were not meant to hurtle through the air at a hundred miles an hour, upside down, with only a hunk of metal keeping you from a death drop to the concrete.”

“Death drop, huh?”

“Yep!” Alex nodded, wondering if he’d finally scared Crop Top off but he was still grinning at Alex, and he was not emotionally prepared for this today. 

All he had been expecting was a casual day at the amusement park with his bros, eating cotton candy, talking Reggie out of a third hot dog, talking Luke and Bobby out of the death machine they liked to call The Jolt, and trying not to think about how many people were killed every year by rogue roller coasters. But here he was, standing in the parking lot with no bros, no cotton candy, and the prettiest guy Alex had ever seen, who was smiling at him like Alex was the best thing he’d ever seen. 

So he might have panicked a bit, okay, a lot. Blurting out a quick “I’ve gotta gay, go, I’ve gotta go. Bye.” before turning and running away. As soon as his back was turned he made a face, resisting the urge to facepalm. What the fuck was that? He wanted to sink into the ground, never to be seen again. Thank god his boys hadn’t been there for that. They would never let him hear the end of it. 

He was a few yards away when he realized he was going the wrong direction, but he wasn’t about to turn around again.

He ended up taking the long way around back to the car to avoid running into Crop Top and embarrassing himself any further. By the time he’d made it back to the ticket stand, they were at the front of the line and Bobby was just handing over money to the person behind the counter. Catching his breath, he slid into place next to Reggie. 

“Sorry that took so long. I got lost.” Not his best lie he had to admit. Alex did not get lost. He was too anxious to get lost. He mapped out directions before he left the house, they all had ‘find my iphone’ turned on so they could find each other if needed, and he kept an actual map in his fanny pack. He never got lost. Which would explain the weird look Reggie was giving him. 

“You got lost? You never get lost? Also, you were in a parking lot. Are you feeling okay?” 

“Um, yeah. I just forgot where we parked. So I was going in circles for a while.”

Reggie was still frowning at him and reached up to feel his forehead. “Guys, I think Alex is sick. He said he got lost.” Alex shoved his hand away as Luke whipped around and looked him up and down. 

“Oh no”

“Fuck off, I’m fine. Let’s go, I want cotton candy.”

Bobby smirked. “He sounds fine, babe. Let’s go.” Slipping his hand into Reggie’s, Bobby turned, gently tugging Reggie after him towards the gate. 

“But…” Reggie looked back at Alex, still looking vaguely worried. 

“We’ll get some sugar in him and he’ll be good as new.” Bobby reassured his boyfriend and looked over his shoulder at the two of them. “Come on you guys, the sooner we get Lex his cotton candy, the sooner we can go on The Jolt.”

“Absolutely not! We are not going to die today!” His distaste for the ride was written all over his face but Bobby just laughed. 

“See he’s fine.”

Groaning Alex followed them into the park, Luke tagging alone right behind him. 

~~~~

They spent the first few hours running around to the various rides the boys wanted to go on, and Alex refreshed his stash of cotton candy as needed. He was not worried at all about strapping himself into a hunk of metal that went flying through the air, the bored college kid operating the ride the only thing stopping him from being thrown to his death. Not worried at all, why would you even ask something like that?

Pulling another piece of cotton candy out of the bag, he stuffed it in his mouth, letting the sugar melt on his tongue while he tried to chill. He glanced around while they waited in line for Reggie’s second hot dog of the day.

A familiar cropped shirt passed by, the image of a dog riding a skateboard seared into Alex’s brain at this point, and he ducked his head. It was a big park, this was probably the only time he would actually see Crop Top around. 

It definitely wasn’t. He seemed to be everywhere, disappearing around the corner of the darts table, standing in line for the Screaming Eagle, sprawled on a bench with a churro. He always seemed to be there when Alex turned around, but never seemed to see Alex. 

As the day went on, Alex was more and more distracted with when he would see Crop Top again. He wished he had stuck around in the parking lot, talked to Crop Top a little more, not been such a weirdo. But alas, he hadn’t and now he was pining over some guy he’d talked to for like, five minutes. Crop Top was just really pretty, and funny, and his smile made Alex’s stomach flip flop, but in a good way for once. God, he was such a disaster. 

It was close to three in the afternoon when Alex saw Crop Top once again, just joining the line for The Jolt. By now he’d had enough sugar that he’d mellowed out some, which he realized was not how sugar usually worked. Alex just assumed that the dopamine rush of the sugar high tricked his body into ignoring the anxiety. Or his body was just weird. Either one worked. 

The point was he’d had a lot of sugar by three, and decided maybe he should actually do something about pining over Crop Top. Maybe he could strike up a conversation. Ask him how he was doing after almost being knocked over. Ask what his favorite ride was. See if he’d gone to the hall of mirrors yet. But what he did instead was turn to Luke and Bobby, smack Luke on the shoulder, and announce that he would permit one ride on The Jolt, but they had to go in pairs. Alex would be on the ground to keep an eye on them and run in the other direction if their coaster car flew off. 

Bobby and Luke paused for a second, assessing if he was serious before turning to each other with a grin.

“Yes!” Luke whooped, jumping in excitement. 

Bobby just held a fist out for Luke to bump. They both moved towards Alex, throwing arms over his shoulders. “Let’s go, Lex.”

~~~~

So now they were here in line, and Alex was freaking out. This was a terrible idea. No amount of cotton candy was going to make him think this was a good idea. And now both Bobby and Luke were staring at him, twin looks of suspicion on their faces. He could just tell they were waiting for the opportunity to be judgy. 

Okay so that wasn’t completely fair. His friends weren’t judgy, they just loved to lightly make fun of him when Alex did the same shit that he laughed at them for. He racked his brain for an explanation, something that would actually make sense. Before he could say anything, Crop Top looked over his shoulder and noticed Alex standing a few feet back. His face lit up and he waved the people behind him ahead as the line started to move forward, coming to a stop in front of Alex. 

“Hey, it’s Death Drop! You changed your mind.”

“Death Drop?” Alex questioned, hearing Luke and Bobby echo the question behind him. 

Crop Top blushed slightly, “Oh yeah, just cause I never got your name and I had to call you something in my head.”

“You thought about me?” Alex needed to get it together and stop just repeating everything Crop Top said in a daze. 

Crop Top blushed harder, tucking hair behind his ear again, looking embarrassed. “Yes? I’m Willie by the way.”

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

Oh my God, Alex needed to stop just saying hi when Crop Top, no Willie, spoke to him. 

“Shit, sorry. Alex.” He pointed to himself awkwardly and then winced. Dear God, could he please have a normal conversation with Willie. This was his chance, the reason he’d gotten in line to begin with and he was blowing it. “This is, um, Luke and Bobby.” He waved a hand behind him, not looking away from Willie. Not even noticing as the line moved up again. 

“Ah, guitar Luke and Reggie’s Bobby. Nice to meet you.”

Bobby spoke up just then, apparently finally finding his voice. “You too. Speaking of, when did you and Alex meet?” 

“Oh, in the parking lot this morning. He almost knocked me over on the way back to the car. Said he didn’t even notice me.” Willie tossed his hair with a smirk. “Which, rude, but I did come out of the middle of two cars, so I suppose that’s valid. He left quickly though, and I didn’t get his name.” He turned to Alex with a soft smile. “Thought I wouldn’t see you again, it’s a big park. I’m lucky you changed your mind.”

“Yeah, lucky.” Luke was eyeing them in amusement. His eyes telling Alex they would be talking about this later and not to even think about getting out of it. “Say Alex, didn't you say you got lost this morning?” 

He was going to kill Luke. This was payback for all the jokes he made when Luke was figuring out his thing with Julie. Not that he actually figured it out, she made the first move, but still. This was a betrayal of the highest order and they would be having words. 

“Yes, Lucas. I did get lost. I got turned around and couldn’t find the car.” Alex said through gritted teeth, begging Luke not to embarrass him any more. 

“Yeah I’ll bet you got lost. Lost in his eyes maybe.” Alex barely caught Bobby’s mutter and narrowed his eyes at him, reaching out to kick Bobby lightly.

“Anyways,” Alex said loudly, “They wouldn’t shut up about The Jolt, and I got tired of saying no, so here we are.” 

“Yeah, that’s why we’re here.” Luke smirked and Alex glared at him, he kicked his leg out in Luke’s direction but missed when Luke danced out of the way with a grin. 

“I’ve told you all thirteen and a half times today that we weren’t going, and I finally got sick of it. So yes, here we are.”

Wille was looking amused, eyes darting from person to person as they went back and forth. “What was the half time?”

Focusing back on Willie, Alex answered. “Luke didn’t even get the words out that time. He just looked at the ride and then at me with his best puppy dog face.” He turned back to Luke, “Which I am immune to by now, so don’t even try it. That only works on Julie now. We’ve known you too long.” Facing Willie again, he continued, “Anyways, he tried his puppy dog face and I said no before he could ask. And then he pouted and I gave him some of my cotton candy, which he was severely ungrateful for. The asshole.”

“Hey! I said thank you.” Luke interrupted, offended at the notion. 

“You ate the last of it, Lucas, and you haven’t bought me a new bag yet.” Alex snapped back. He was calmer now, but not calm enough to forgive the slight of finishing off his precious sugar clouds. 

Willie giggled, dragging Alex’s attention back to him. “Well, that just sounds unforgivable. I guess I’ll have to buy you some cotton candy after this.”

Alex could cry, Willie was officially his new favorite person. He had only known Alex for twenty minutes and was already offering cotton candy. Alex was in love. 

“You would do that?”

Bobby laughed, “Oh no, don’t say that. You’ll never get rid of him. He’s _attached_ to his cotton candy.”

Willie just smiled, locking eyes with Alex, “I’m good with that.” 

Oh my god! Alex couldn’t breathe. His brain had shut down again. He just stood there for a second, cheeks flushing as he struggled to say something. Thankfully, he was interrupted before he could spiral too hard. 

Unfortunately, it was because they had reached the front of the line and the attendant was asking how many. 

Willie looked at him “Wanna go together?”

Alex stuttered, “Oh I wasn’t-”

“Yes, he does.” Luke cut him off, pushing him forward gently. 

Willie smiled gently, offering a hand, “Come on it’ll be fun. You can hold my hand and scream the whole time, no judgement.”

How was he supposed to say no to that? And really, if he had to die, going out holding the hand of a pretty guy was the way to go. He could just come back as a ghost to haunt the shit out of Luke and Bobby for getting him into this mess. 

“Okay.” He took Willie’s outstretched hand with a nervous smile, and let Willie pull him past the bored looking attendant and onto the loading deck. 

The coaster car arrived, previous riders exited to the right, and they climbed in on the left. Pulling the safety harness down as far as he could and hearing it click into place, only ramped up his nerves, and Alex held onto it with shaking hands. 

“Are you okay? We don’t have to do this. We can always skip it, get you some more cotton candy instead.” Willie was looking at him, brows furrowed in concern, but Alex shook his head. 

“It’s okay. We’re already here, but I will definitely take you up on cotton candy afterwards.”

“You sure?” 

“Yeah, it’ll be fun!” Alex forced cheer into his voice and he knew it wasn’t fooling Willie, but he didn’t argue. 

“Okay, here.” Willie offered his hand and Alex grabbed it gratefully. Trying to hide the shaking in his hands and not hold on too tightly. Willie just squeezed his hand, running a soothing thumb over his knuckles. “I’m gonna get you so much cotton candy, you don’t even know.”

Alex laughed for real that time, relaxing the tiniest bit, tensing again as the attendant came down the line to check the safety harness before stepping back to signal the ride operator.

Alex squeezed Willies hand reflexively as the ride started and they began the first ascent to one of the many, many drops. _Oh my God, they were going to die_. 

He must have said it out loud because Willie laughed, squeezing his hand again. “So it _was_ you I heard in line earlier. We’ll be fine. I know for a fact that it’s safe.”

“How the fuck could you know that? Accidents happen.” Alex had completely burned through any of the calm the cotton candy had given him, and was back to panicking. 

“I designed it. It’s physically impossible to fall out of, and the construction has about eight different failsafes in case of emergency. It’s the safest roller coaster in the country.”

“WHAT!!” Alex whipped his head around to look at Willie, who’s smirk melted into a grin at Alex’s look. Alex had so many questions. First of all, what the fuck? Second of all, how? But before he could ask any of them, the coaster tipped into its first drop and the words were torn out of his throat as a scream. 

Alex screamed the entire time and kept a death grip on Willie’s hand until they were stopped again. Willie on the other hand, laughed the entire way through, only stopping to whoop a few times. Alex supposed designing the thing, made one a bit more confident in one's safety, 

They finally came to a stop, and Alex tried to catch his breath. Willie released his hand, tucking hair back behind his ears. He looked incredibly pleased with himself, but dimmed his smile a bit when he looked at Alex, “You good?”

“Yeah, ask me again in five minutes. I think I left my brain behind on the third loop de loop.”

Willie laughed, grabbing Alex’s hand again as the safety harness released, and pulled him up and out of the car. “Come on, Death Drop. Let's get you some cotton candy and a bottle of water.” 

“I don’t think I can feel my legs.” Alex was still shaky, but in an exhausted way. He was somehow both drained, like he’d run for miles, and wired, wanting to vibrate right out of his skin. It was weird, but not altogether unpleasant. 

“Uh huh, c’mere.” Willie wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him close and guiding him towards the exit. They ran into Luke and Bobby outside the exit. They eyed Willie’s arm around his waist, Luke looked smug as hell, bastard. 

“Have fun, Lex?”

“Fuck off. We’re gonna go get cotton candy. You might want to find your boyfriend, Bobby. I thought I saw him get in the hotdog line again.”

Bobby went pale, “Fuck, he knows his limit is three and after that he’s nauseous as hell and done for the day. Every time, and every time you gotta pull him outta the line.”

He took off and Luke started after him, hollering over his shoulder, “We’ll meet you at the carousel at five. Don’t be late.” He paused, “Or at least text first, I’m not above tracking your phone. Have fun kids.” 

Alex groaned, blushing slightly at Luke’s parting words. 

Willie squeezed his waist gently, “Ready for this?” 

Alex looked down, meeting the playful brown eyes with a nod and a smile of his own, “Let’s do it.”

~~~~

They were late. They ended up getting a few different bags of cotton candy. Willie was woefully uneducated in the art of cotton candy and Alex was determined to correct that. They talked for hours, only stopping when the park closed. Alex had texted Luke hours before, letting him know that he wouldn’t be meeting them at the carousel and he would see them at home later. 

Willie drove him home, the soft music from the radio, wrapping them up in a cocoon of warmth and the feeling of new beginnings. The passing streetlights and the lane markers flying past were the only pieces of the real world that registered. 

Pulling up in the driveway, Willie parked and silence filled the car, but it wasn’t stifling or uncomfortable. 

“Can I walk you to the door?” Willie’s voice was quiet, hesitant at the question and Alex was nodding before he even thought about it. 

“Yes.”

Walking to the front door, their pinkies brushed together. Willie reached for his hand when they made it to the front door. Linking their pinkies, he swung their hands gently. 

“Can I see you again? I promise not to take you on any more roller coasters, maybe we could do dinner instead.”

A bright grin bloomed in Alex’s face, “I don’t know, it kind of grew on me. Just like the guy who made it.”

Willie grinned back, offering his phone. Alex added his number, saving the contact as Death Drop with a skull and crossbones, rollercoaster, candy and rainbow emoji. 

Willie laughed when he saw it. “The duality of man.”

Leaning in, he kissed Alex’s cheek. Pulling back with a soft smile and backing down the steps. “I’ll text you when I get home. We can set up dinner.” 

Alex nodded, “Goodnight Willie.”

“Goodnight Death Drop.” 

“That’s gonna stick, huh?”

Willie grinned, “Always.”

~~~~

_Four years later_

They were back at the same amusement park again, this time for a very different reason. The park was crowded. People milled around, chattering as a sense of expectation and excitement hung in the air. 

Willie grabbed Alex’s left hand, eye’s sparkling with excitement. He kissed Alex’s hand, the band on his ring finger, glinting in the morning sun.

“Are you ready for this?” 

“Let’s do it.”

Together, they raised the scissors, cutting through the ribbon in one smooth motion, and above them the banner reading “Crop Top and Death Drop present: The Cotton Candy Coaster!” waved in the breeze. 


End file.
